Confessions of a Liberal Puritan

Yes, I'm still alive and kicking -- I've just been in social hibernation for the past month or more. I've had things I wanted to say and reply to on LJ, but I kept leaving my LJ correspondence until the end of the workday (usually after 9 PM at night), when I was too tired to think coherently or type a complete sentence.

Here's a quick rundown of where I am and where I've been:

Having learned last Christmas (the hard way!) the folly of waiting until the last minute to make my drive to Wisconsin, I drove up here to the family domicile on Monday the 19th, enjoying blessedly clear highways all the way.

Since arriving in Wisconsin, I've seen two of the "big" movies released this season, King Kong and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and enjoyed them both immensely.

( My 'King Kong' review, with spoilers )

I'd gladly go to see this definitive Kong again, even on a less-huge screen. It's not just the monster-fest or special effects showcase that you might think, but rather a truly soul-touching story of a few lonely souls (two human -- Naomi Watts and Adrien Brody -- and one giant gorilla) trying to overcome their isolation and learn how to communicate their feelings to one another.

Plus, I enjoyed seeing Colin Hanks (Alex from the first two seasons of "Roswell", which I've developed a fondness for in Sci-Fi Channel re-runs) playing an important supporting role on the big screen. And I never would have thought that I'd find Adrien Brody the least bit attractive, physically, but after seeing him play Jack Driscoll, I have to say I finally get how he could be a leading man.

( brief review of 'Narnia', with no spoilers that I'm aware of, but just to be on the safe side... )

During my hibernation and general licking of emotional wounds covering most of November and early December, I hadn't really seen any movies in the theater since the wonderful and very re-watchable Serenity. However, I began to correct that oversight last week, after grading my last final exam and in between bouts of cleaning and packing for my holiday travels.

From Sunday to Friday last week, I saw:

1) Goodnight and Good Luck (very good, and made me realize, perhaps for the first time, the similarities between good academic writing and good journalism, in the need to be specific about sources and back everything up, and not just resort to vague generalizations or "many people say..." -- which I would never let my students get away with, but which some so-called news programs today seem to rely on as their bread-and-butter),

2) Zathura (entertaining enough, I guess, but a little too much of a duck-billed platypus of a movie -- not really fitting into one type of film or the other -- to be really enjoyable or memorable),

3) Pride and Prejudice (which I am so glad my sister vehemently recommended, since I'd been unexcited at the prospect of yet another film adaptation of my all-time favorite and most re-read novel -- I was amazed at how faithful they were able to be to Jane Austen's book, and yet condense it down to a gorgeous two-hour movie, and the spectacular location shooting sure didn't hurt any, either), and

4) Capote (which I went to see mainly because it was the sort of out-of-the-way film that I might not be able to find playing anywhere convenient in Milwaukee, but found surprisingly engrossing, even though I've never had any particular interest in true crime books or in Truman Capote; the juxtaposition of Capote and his approach to writing In Cold Blood with Nell Harper Lee and her publication of To Kill a Mockingbird was fascinating, and sometimes chilling in its own way).

I've brought along a couple of boxes full of study materials, in order to try to work on my dissertation while I'm here, but I seem to have given myself permission to put that off until after Christmas day. We'll have to see how well my good intentions to work during this holiday actually play out.